Indian commercial posters from the 1920s to 1960s are hand-drawn original artwork on display at a recent show in the capital. Curated by Tarun Thakral’s Archives, it presents a unique chance to view a rare collection of 29 original photographs from the past.
In 2007, Thakral gathered a few posters and advertising enamel boards about the history of transport in India with the intention of constructing the Heritage Transport Museum in Gurugram. Additionally, he became interested in non-transport-related advertising posters, calendars, prints, and oleographs during the pandemic, which inspired him to begin this collection, which has primarily expanded in the last four years.
While more than half of the collection was acquired in India, mainly from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra, other posters were obtained through poster dealers and participation in international auctions in the US, UK, France, and Germany.
Furthermore, due to their inexpensive cost of production and ability to be manufactured in large quantities of identical copies, antique posters were a valuable informational tool. The advancement of printing technology led to the evolution of printed materials into more intricate and vibrant designs. Any printing technique, including serigraph, offset lithography, woodblock, silk screen, and stone lithography, was used to create posters on a variety of paper stocks.
Most of the posters in his collection are offset and stone lithographs. In the late 1890s, Raja Ravi Varma brought German lithography presses to India so he could begin printing colour lithographs of his original paintings for widespread sale. Other lithographic presses in India came after this.
Prominent Indian painters of the era, such as Varma, M.V. Dhurandhar, S.L. Haldankar, and Raghuvir Mulgaonkar, created a few of the posters. Others are by British artists who were stationed in India at the time, including Victor Veevers, Kay Nixon, Dorothy Newsome, and W.S. Bylitiplis. These artists had their paintings specially made for posters.
Most collectors start out collecting everything that piques their curiosity. They begin investigating methods, businesses, artists, fashions, printers, and their principles over time. One frequently has a tendency to forget what they have gained when their collection grows.
Because of this, Thakral also possesses an immense collection of 5,000 unique, original popular visual arts in the form of vintage prints, oleographs, calendars, and posters.
Cataloguing and upkeep of the collection are currently being done under the Tarun Thakral Archival Collection.
Thakral started collecting classic and vintage cars and associated transportation items in 1994. The collection got so big over time that he was having trouble keeping up with it. He established the Heritage Transportation Trust two years later with the goal of advancing the preservation of Indian-origin vehicles. He requested permission from the Union Ministry of Culture in 2009 to establish India’s first all-encompassing Heritage Transport Museum, and he was granted a grant of Rs. 6 crores to do so.
Situated in close proximity to Gurugram, the establishment welcomed guests in December 2013 at an expense of Rs 13 crore, which was financed by the Indian government, private and corporate contributions, and individual contributions. The museum has been regarded as one of the greatest in the nation for more than ten years, having welcomed over two million visitors and winning numerous national and international accolades.
Thakral intends to establish an online visual arts museum in the future, which academics can use for study, instruction, and sheer curiosity. In addition, he intends to assemble sets of his collection for temporary exhibitions at other art museums in India and abroad.